Gulf states plan military response as Putin raises the stakes in Syria

So, it seems now that the Ruskies have come to play, all the meddlers in Syria's affairs are getting upset that Assad and an organised government
might have a chance of surviving instead of leaving a broken country with a crushing power vacuum for the vultures to prey upon.

Russia’s bombing of rebel positions has angered countries in the region that have been trying to oust Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
Analysts say Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are now likely to increase military aid to the anti-Assad groups they support

“The Russian intervention is a massive setback for those states backing the opposition, particularly within the region – Qatar, Saudi Arabia
and Turkey – and is likely to elicit a strong response in terms of a counter-escalation,” said Julien Barnes-Dacey, senior policy fellow at the
European Council on Foreign Relations.

You might has well said that America's allies are upset that Russian allies look poised to win the war and stay in power.

This whole US verse Russia is BS.

Does anyone understand what the term SOVEREIGNTY means? I thought the Geneva Convention settled this after WW2. Maybe it's time to honor international
law and stop messing around in the affairs of other SOVEREIGN nations.

You might has well said that America's allies are upset that Russian allies look poised to win the war and stay in power.

This whole US verse Russia is BS.

Does anyone understand what the term SOVEREIGNTY means? I thought the Geneva Convention settled this after WW2. Maybe it's time to honor international
law and stop messing around in the affairs of other SOVEREIGN nations.

Yep, I am right with you there. Nations have right to self determination from within.

Isis , AlQuaida, the "Anti Assad" groups... these 'terrorist Muslim' groups,
are trained in countries like Saudi, Quatar, and Turkey!
Furthermore these countries are the US allies by which the terrorists obtain their funding and weaponry!

Essentially, they are the buffers by which dark powers of the West can influence and operate these false groups, in order to continue chaos in the
ME.

If we see countries such as this acting in defiance of Russia, and continue to support these groups- ALL WHICH ARE MERCENARIES PAID WITH HUGE WESTERN
$-
we are essentially seeing the West channeling resources to fight Russia.

The guys propping up ISIS are of the US Cold Warriors, the MIC, the CIA.
BY now channeling resources vs Russia via these shady US ally states, they would be enabled to continue their operation of arming and destroying the
Middle East. $$$
So what this article describes, tells me it the demented Western shadow power propping up their program through puppet ally states such as Quatar,
Saudi, and Turkey.

One need look no further than to see this position is being propagated by the Council on Foreign Relations, neocon stronghold.

The western backed supporters of Wahabbism,Jihadis and Terrorists are pissed off because Putin is blatantly backing Assad who is fighting all these
jihadi bastards.
Obama is whinging to Putin to stop making things worse,when his forces yesterday blew the living sheeeit out of a freaking HOSPITAL in Afghanistan for
Pete's sake.

I expect to see dirty movements from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the gulf states.
Maybe provide their proxy armies with equipment so they have a chance shoot down Russian fighter jets.
Direct interference means they openly go to war against Russia and despite the petro dollar, i don't think the US will honor their part of the deal
this time.

Well, this is Russia's big chance to prove it is capable of being a world class nation and help pacify Syria then lead it back to peace and
stability.

I watch what Putin is doing with great interest because his involvement in this will show the world his true colours. And I dare to hope that he is
going to show us Russia can do good. Only time will tell.

First of Russia can not save Assad, the best they can hope for is prolonging the war. Dropping dumb bombs on people with only few airstrikes a day is
not going to change anything in the military balance. In particular since ISIS is not a priority for Russia. And Assad has a ceasefire with AlQuida
and AlNursa. So Russia's focus is on moderate rebels, in particular the people that the live with. The only thing that unites the dozens of factions
in Syria is that Assad must go.

Russia actions will lead to the following. Advanced weapons showing up among the rebels including anti aircraft systems. The types of weapons
flowing into Syria has been limited to small arms under pressure from the US and the West who say the rebels do not need more advanced systems. Now
that limit will be ignored.

The worst case is the rebels groups stop fighting each other and focus on Assad. As unlikely as a ceasefire between the FSA and ISIS seems, ISIS has
had a ceasefire with Assad when the FSA was seen as the biggest threat.

The best case for Russia is the West forcing the moderate Syrian rebels to a peace deal that removes Assad but creates a coalition government where
Assads juniors who are pro Russian gets seats in the power sharing. That is what Russia has as a goal. However, the West has almost no control over
the rebels. If Russia had come in and focused on ISIS instead of drooping dumb bombs in civilian areas that plan might have worked. Now however,
Russia has riled up the entire Arab world. And the worst thing for Russia is they are not afraid of Russia. On top of that the Israelis also are not
happy with this and the dumping of advanced weapons to Assad who when his forces run will likely end up being used against Israel down the line. So
Israel as well will doing whatever they see fit to undermine the Russians.

It is not a good day when you have the West, the Arabs and the Israelis all looking at ways to make sure you come out losing.

In case anyone thinks that what we are doing in Syria or Ukraine is legal,its not. We need to come home and mind our own business.

This whole thing with the middle east I really think is about what Israel wants and Saudi Arabia. Israel has caused enough harm there and now you have
the Saudi's with their Wahabbism nonsense trying to overthrow any country that doesn't tow the same line. We need to stop being the Saudi's bitches
and get out of there. Let their people over throw the royals like they have wanted to for years.

Russia actions will lead to the following. Advanced weapons showing up among the rebels including anti aircraft systems. The types of weapons
flowing into Syria has been limited to small arms under pressure from the US and the West who say the rebels do not need more advanced systems. Now
that limit will be ignored.

This will only happen if America gets stupid. It very well might, but I hope for the best and that it is sincere in its intentions of stopping the
Islamic state. A concession will have to be made over Assad, but supporting the Syrian Army is the only way to push the various opposition groups out
in order to restore peace. The US and other nation's ideas of funding this rebel group and that has only fueled a very messy war where there is no
guarantee beyond Assad eventuall falling and protracted bloody civil war as the opposition groups fight it out in the ensuing power vacuum for
dominance.

We have yet to see if that is really their intention, it should not have come as a surprise that Russia is bombing areas held by rebels.
Russia is quite clear in its approach which is as expected to attack all the forces that are fighting against Assad.
First the west of Syria, than move on to the east with probably more troops and equipment.
But the big question is what the gulf states and Turkey will do, (shia vs sunni influence in the region).
What is the real position of the US in this, surely they would not be fooled in such a move by Russia like we have seen in the past four days.

We have yet to see if that is really their intention, it should not have come as a surprise that Russia is bombing areas held by rebels.
Russia is quite clear in its approach which is as expected to attack all the forces that are fighting against Assad.
First the west of Syria, than move on to the east with probably more troops and equipment.
But the big question is what the gulf states and Turkey will do, (shia vs sunni influence in the region).
What is the real position of the US in this, surely they would not be fooled in such a move by Russia like we have seen in the past four days.

I am not so sure about that. You might be right, but maybe I am an optimist. I can't see Putin being that interested in the middle east beyond
supporting Assad because he was in danger of losing his military base in Latakia.

I found this rather interesting and well written take on the whole affair: fff.org...

Is it any wonder that President Obama and his cohorts are stymied and dumbfounded by Russia’s maneuver? What are they supposed to say —
that Russia doesn’t have the authority to fight terrorism? That the U.S. government is the world’s sole international policeman that wields the
power to ferret out and kill “terrorists”?

Obama and his interventionist acolytes within the mainstream press are complaining that Russia isn’t bombing ISIS and other targets within Syria
that the Pentagon is bombing. Instead, they lament, Russia is bombing targets that are seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad —
targets that consist of rebels who the CIA has trained and supported, with the aim of ousting Assad from power.

To me the whole regime change policies have not made the world better or safer for anyone as of late; not to mention there used to be laws against
that sort of thing... Now people just seem to think ho hum pass the bread..

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